Sunday, August 2, 2009

Well that didn't last long. 2 days Jeremy Accardo was sent down to AAA to make room for newly acquired Josh Roenicke, he has rejoined the ball club following the the foot injury suffered by Scott Downs.

On Saturday, Downs aggravated the left toe that caused him to miss 19 games the past two months, sending Downs back to the disabled list. The move means Accardo, who was miffed at being demoted on Friday, is now back in the fold with the ball club. He worked a scoreless ninth inning in the series finale against the A's.

Manager Cito Gaston admitted that Downs might have come back too quickly from his injury suffered while running out of the batter's box in Philadelphia. His numbers since being activated off the DL would certainly back that up, as the Jays closer struggled in his past six outings, blowing 2 saves, losing 3 contests while posting a 12.60 ERA.

Accardo, who hadn't reported to Las Vegas at the time of his demotion, should never have been sent down by the club, so it's a welcomed sight to see the former 30 game closer back with the team.

Rookie Brett Cecil is continuing to make a name for himself around Major League Baseball in his first season in the bigs, serving notice that Ricky Romero isn't the only Jays rookie southpaw with supreme talent.

The former University of Maryland closer was so dominant, in fact, that he shut the door on the A's offense, retiring 15 batters in a row. He lasted all the way through 7 innings in picking up his 5th win of the campaign. In Saturday's game against the Athletics, Cecil responded like a season veteran after being tagged for four runs in the 2nd inning.

Having been given a 3 run lead in the Jays half of that inning, and then coughing it up, the 23 year old Cecil could have folded, gotten beaten around more, costing his team a chance at victory. However, Cecil dug deep and fashioned a brilliant performance for the remainder of the game.

He now has lasted 6 innings in 8 of his 12 starts in his maiden campaign in the major leagues.

If there was one loser in the trade of Scott Rolen to the Reds, it has to be hard luck Jeremy Accardo. After the Jays acquired the rights to right handed reliever Josh Roenicke in the deal, Accardo was optioned down to AAA Las Vegas to make room for the newest member of the bullpen.

Accardo was not impressed with the demotion either, nor should he be. He spent the first couple of months buried in AAA when inferior pitchers were called up to pitch for Toronto, and has been very solid in 16 outings, not allowing a run in 12 of those contests while posting a solid 2.87 ERA.

The 27 year old Accardo saved 30 games for the Jays in 2007, missing most of the '08 campaign with a forearm injury.

After weeks of speculation and rumours that Roy Halladay's career in Toronto would be over, the Blue Jays have decided to keep their ace in the fold for at least the remainder of this season with the intention of contending in 2010. For a while Halladay seemed all but destined to punch his ticket to another city, with J.P. Ricciardi fielding proposals for the 6 time all-star, but instead, he is staying with the only organization he's known.

On one hand, I'm extremely glad that J.P. Ricciardi didn't trade Halladay just for the sake of making a deal. Taking anything less than market value would have hampered a team that would surely be in the dumps with the loss of the 2003 CY Young Award winner. But on the contrary, trading arguably the best pitcher in baseball really would have netted a slew of prospects that could have aided this team down the road. And that is the distinction that continues to fail to be made. Are the Jays rebuilding with an eye to the future? Or are they contending for a title?

Ricciardi has indicated that because he wasn't "wowed" and "moved" by any offers, the team is keeping Halladay with the intention of contending in 2010. I don't believe Toronto has the personnel to be a factor late into the season next year, because it'll be mostly the same lineup coming back (Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Lyle Overbay are all bums) Trading Doc is still a possibility in the off-season or at the trade deadline in 2010, because his value will still be sky high (he is, after all, the best pitcher in baseball)

Because Halladay is such a class act, it's really disappointing that the bulletproof Ricciardi managed to bungle his status through the media, further isolating the team's best player.